


Veritas

by ten9



Series: Heaven Haven [4]
Category: Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: Episode: s02e07 Veritas, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-09
Updated: 2011-10-09
Packaged: 2017-10-24 11:09:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/262796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ten9/pseuds/ten9
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>(These characters are owned by their respective studios and producers; I make no profit from these stories, they are provided for personal use only and remain the copyright of the author. They may not be reproduced either in whole, in part or posted elsewhere without permission.)</p>
    </blockquote>





	Veritas

**Author's Note:**

> (These characters are owned by their respective studios and producers; I make no profit from these stories, they are provided for personal use only and remain the copyright of the author. They may not be reproduced either in whole, in part or posted elsewhere without permission.)

**Heaven Haven**

 **Part 4**

 **Veritas**

 _“And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,_

 _The instruments of darkness tell us truths,_

 _Win us with honest trifles, to betray us_

 _In deepest consequence.”_

 _Macbeth,_ William Shakespeare, Act I, sc. 3

 _Breathe…_ she scolded herself for the umpteenth time, _just breathe…._ She gripped the rail inside the elevator for support and wrenched her hand free when the doors began to slide open. She impatiently pushed her way through and rushed to the sanctuary’s morgue,

 

“What happened?”

Will stood just inside, his hands shoved deep in his pockets, “We're still piecing it together…” he shrugged sadly, “he was found last night in an alley near the shipyards.”

“And who found him?” Janet demanded, crossing the room to the already open cadaver drawer.

Will shrugged again, following her, “An anonymous tip; by the time we got there it was too late.”

Janet pulled down the sheet covering Bigfoot’s still body beneath, her eyes closing in grief and loss of the large Meganthropus. _Oh, my friend…_ she thought sadly.

 

“I’m so sorry…” Will offered lamely and dropped a comforting hand on her small shoulder.

 

She furiously blinked unshed tears from her eyes and cleared her throat, “Why didn’t you call me?” Her gaze was accusatory and her tone sharp, “Where’s Helen?”

“You were already on your way back,” Will held up his hands in surrender, “and given the evidence so far, I thought it might be kinder to wait…”

“Why?” she demanded, fear threading her voice, “What's going on? Where’s Helen?”

“Look,” Will patted the air with his hands in a calming gesture, “it's too early to know for sure, but so far all the evidence points to Magnus.”

 

Janet’s jaw dropped for an instant before slamming closed and setting in what Will now recognized as both stubbornness and fortitude, “That’s absurd.” she stated flatly and replaced the sheet back over her friend’s massive form.

“We ran ballistics on the bullets we pulled; they came from her nine mil.”

Janet crossed her arms defensively over her chest. “So?”

“And she had gunshot residue on her coat.”

“All that proves is that she fired a gun at some point.”

“And he called me about her.”

“Who?”

 

“Big Guy,” Will shrugged one-sidedly, indicating the body beneath the sheet with his chin, “two nights ago; he’d been working on a shipyard contact and called me...”

 

 _“Oh for god sakes,”_ Janet exhaled in noisy exasperation, “ _he_ called _you_ _while_ he was at the docks?” Will nodded, shrugging, and she repeated, her tone incredulous, “He _called_ you about her _while he was at the docks instead of just talking to you here?”_

 

Will licked his lips and continued in a calm voice, “He said he was concerned about Magnus.”

“Concerned?” Janet’s voice was flat and disbelieving, “Concerned about what?”

“He said she'd started to slip… mentally.”

Janet’s eyes opened wide, “That is _ridiculous…”_

  
“That’s what _I_ said,” Will nodded, “but he said she was hiding it.” Janet shook her head again dismissively and he continued, “Look, all I can tell you is what he told me; he said it was a condition she had for years. He found out about it recently, agreed to let it slide, but it got to a point where he thought he had to do something and then the line went dead.”

  
“I can’t believe this…” Janet’s voice broke and she shook her head, forbidding any emotion to surface.

“I know,” Will nodded sympathetically, staring down at the sheet-covered body, “but why would he make up something like that?”

 

Janet sighed heavily and headed for the door.

 

“And to add insult to injury,” Will continued, following her, “Declan MacRae is coming from the London sanctuary…”

  
Janet’s heels sounded loudly on the stone floor as she headed back to the elevator, “Where is she?” she asked curtly, ignoring him.

  
“Level three isolation.” he answered, hurrying after her.

She whirled on him, making him nearly collide into her, “ _WHAT?”_ she shouted angrily. “Will, she didn't do this!” She slammed the side of her fist into the button to call the elevator and the doors slid open.

 

“I know!” Will hurried in after her, “MacRae says he’s coming to invoke Article Nine….”

 

Janet’s eyes darkened menacingly, “Like hell he is.”

 

~

  
Janet entered a code and opened the door to the isolation room. Her eyes swept the small living space and locked on Helen, sitting in the corner of the room staring out the window.

 

“Janet,” she moaned tearfully and rushed to her, gathering the petite form in her arms, “Oh, thank God…”

“Okay…” Janet soothed, _“shh…”_ she whispered words of comfort as her soft hands firmly pulled Helen into a chair, “Are you okay?”

“How could I be?” Helen held a wad of damp tissue tightly in one fist and she waved it helplessly, “They're telling me that I killed one of our dearest friends.”

Janet peered at her closely; Helen’s eyes were puffy and red from crying and she looked exhausted, “What do you mean, ‘telling you’?”

“I don't remember what happened.” She shook her head helplessly, “Honestly, I have... I've absolutely no memory of this past week… I remember kissing you goodbye when you left for the conference in Tokyo…” More tears slipped from her eyes, “But after that… there’s nothing… _nothing….”_

Janet licked her lips and smoothed her hands over Helen’s in a soothing gesture, checking them for injury. Helen was clearly traumatized, _But she couldn’t have killed him..._ “Were you injured?” she asked, smoothing her hands briefly over Helen’s face and agonized features.

 

Helen clasped the small hand to her lips, a small sob broke from her and tears squeezed from her tightly closed eyes. Janet quickly crawled onto her lap, straddling her and held her close,

 

 _“Easy now…”_ she whispered, tears streaming stubbornly from her eyes. They cried in each other’s arms for several minutes until Janet finally sniffed and wiped her face with one hand. “I just don’t understand,” she shook her head helplessly, “were you exposed to something?”

“Will said the tox screen came back negative…” Helen wiped at her nose with the sleeve of her sweater, _“Someone did this to me…”_ she insisted, “Someone _deliberately_ erased my memories…”

“How?” Janet asked, running her fingers through Helen’s dark tresses in an effort to both soothe and check for head injury.

“I don't know!” Helen cried, wrenching from her touch, “Aren't you listening to me?” Janet’s eyes opened wide in surprise at her outburst and she softened her voice, quickly pulling the small hands to her lips again and kissed them fervently, _“I'm sorry…”_ she mumbled and sniffed, miserable, “I’m sorry I just...I'm just as confused as you are.” Anguished, red-rimmed blue eyes looked searchingly into soft red-rimmed brown, “Someone's trying to set me up, Janet…. Someone's trying to make it look like I killed...” her voice broke and she surrendered to tears once again.

Janet only nodded and pulled her back into her arms, “All right….” she murmured, her voice at once firm and tender. “Listen to me…” she implored softly and pulled back until she could look determinedly into Helen’s eyes, “you listen to me now: _I know you didn’t do this…_ and we're going to get to the bottom of this, I promise.”

 _“Help me...”_ Helen nodded and sagged against Janet once again. _“Please help me….”_ she sobbed weakly.

 _“I will, my love…”_ Janet whispered, holding her tight, _“I will.”_

 **~**

 

Kate and Henry were sitting in the office when Janet and Will entered and she quickly crossed the room to Henry, “I’m so sorry, Henry….” She gave him a fierce hug, knowing Bigfoot had been a father figure to him as he grew from child to man in the sanctuary.

 

“Yeah…” Henry hugged her back just as fiercely, “Me too…” he let go of her, “Declan thinks she did it….” he peered at her with angry red-rimmed eyes, “He’s coming here to invoke Article Nine.”

“It’ll be alright.” Janet assured him, giving his hand a squeeze.

“What's Article Nine?” Kate asked.

“It’s part of the Sanctuary Charter,” Janet answered, “any time there's suspicion of wrongdoing by a head of house they refer the matter to the other heads for review… it’s Helen’s' rule.” She shrugged. “Apparently Mister MacRae’s been assigned the task of conducting it.”

 

Kate’s brows knit in a frown, “Why him and not you?”

 

“I can think of _several_ Heads of House that would have objected to my conducting such an investigation…” Janet assured her, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

 

“Because you and the doc are together…” Kate nodded knowingly, “I guess there’s politics and bullshit everywhere you go.”

 

Will wagged his eyebrows, “No kidding.”

“What the hell are we gonna’ to do?” Henry asked worriedly.

“Well,” Janet sat at the desk she shared with Helen, “we can start by finding out who's really behind this. What do you know so far?”

“Uh,” Henry held up a hand as though he were in school, “Big Guy came to me… he said he was going to old city to meet someone and then the docks.”

“I came here before bed,” Kate added, “but the door was closed.” She looked as though she wanted to say more and when she didn’t Janet prompted,

 

“And?”

 

“Well…” Kate looked uncomfortable and she shrugged, “It's probably nothing; last week she sent me an email asking me to pick up a new intake. I went to the address, but it wasn't there.”

“The abnormal wasn't there?” Janet asked.

“No,” she shook her head, “like, _the whole building_ wasn't there, the address didn't exist.”

Will shrugged, “It must have been a mistake.”

 

Janet sighed, “Did you ask her about it?”

“Yeah,” Kate shrugged one-sidedly, “she denied ever having sent the email. Then the next day, I get another email from her with the exact same request… it was weird.” she added, not adding that she thought Helen Magnus was weird most of the time.

Janet nodded, “All right, Will, you and Kate go check out the crime scene.”

“We’re on it.” Kate nodded.

“I guess I should try to go through her files,” Henry sighed, “and see if there's anything to indicate who could’ve been after her.”

~

  
When Janet entered the room, her eyes fell first on the untouched lunch tray. She walked into the small connecting bedroom and found Helen lying curled in ball on the small bed. Janet kicked off her heels and lay gingerly on the mattress next to her,

 

 _“Helen…”_ she called softly.

 

“I’m awake.” Helen stated in a flat voice and pulled the petite form to her, wrapping her arms and legs around her.

 

“I just wanted to check on you.” Janet murmured, placing a kiss on her forehead, “and tell you I just sent Will and Kate to check out where…” she stammered briefly, “wh-where he was found.”

 

“Nothing else?” Helen sniffed and looked at her with pleading eyes.

 

“Everyone recounted when they saw you last but no one reported anything unusual,” Janet said, lying only a little, “Do you remember sending Kate any emails about picking up a new intake?”

 

Helen’s brow furrowed, “No…” she shook her head, “I don’t.” She sniffed again and started unbuttoning Janet’s blouse, “Can you stay?” she asked, her hands as tremulous as her voice as her fingers fumbled with the small buttons.

 

Janet watched, her heart breaking, “For a few minutes, my love, but I wish you’d eat the lunch out there.”

 

Helen shook her head, “Not hungry, I want to make love…” she said simply, her voice sounding childlike as she freed Janet’s breast from her blouse and bra and suckled the soft point in her mouth.

 

Janet sighed and cradled the head to her breast, stroking the soft hair. As Helen suckled, Janet’s nipple became erect in Helen’s mouth and she could feel her center pounding quietly but she ignored the warm sensation, hoping the activity would comfort rather than arouse and send Helen to sleep so she could at least rest. But after several minutes Helen unbuttoned and unzipped her pants as she pulled from Janet’s breast with a loud slurping sound and stretching out on the bed, rolled on top of her petite frame. Without a word Janet acquiesced, helping to push down Helen’s slacks and underwear, briefly threading her fingers through the dark blond thatch and squeezing the mound, making Helen whimper softly.

 

 _“It’s alright,”_ Janet whispered, _“it’s alright… just come on me.”_

 

Helen pushed up Janet’s skirt and straddled the exposed thigh. She undulated her hips, opening her center and ground on Janet’s smooth skin, slicking it with hot creamy cum. Both women moaned softly and as Janet lifted her thigh in an effort to further the contact between them, Helen settled her weight on her and pulled down the front of Janet’s panties enough to slide her hand inside. Janet turned her face into Helen’s neck and buried her soft grunts and cries in the long dark tresses, squeezing her eyes tightly shut as Helen stroked through already wet and swollen folds and plunged first two fingers then three deep inside her body.

 

The bed was small, but Helen humped the slender thigh between her legs with abandon, panting and grunting wildly and she pumped the fingers inside Janet with equal vigor until the orgasm took her. Her features twisted in a mask of anguished release and she curled the fingers within, triggering Janet’s climax and together their bodies stiffened and trembled violently as they came, jerking and convulsing and hotly ejaculating.

 

Both women cried softly in each other’s arms, their climaxes releasing the ongoing grief that filled their hearts and they panted breathlessly as they wept, clutching each other. After several minutes, Janet clasped Helen’s face in her hands and kissed her deeply. Their tongues entwined and more minutes passed as they continued the embrace, still connected. When their lips finally parted Janet looked deeply into bloodshot blue eyes and rasped, _“I can get through this as long as you remember I love you, and I will always stand by you.”_

 

“I…” Helen’s face contorted in agony and more hot tears spilled from her eyes, “I don’t know what’s wrong with me…” her voice broke and her chin trembled, “what if what’s happening to me won’t let me?” She sagged into the mattress, turning her face into the damp sheet beneath and Janet pulled her close,

 

 _“Then I will remember for us both….”_ she whispered around the lump in her throat.When Helen’s weak cries quieted, Janet pulled the fingers still inside her free and gently guided them to Helen’s mouth. Without speaking, Helen curled fetally on her side and suckled the fingers, her eyes closing at the taste and Janet rose quietly from the bed, her hand trailing over Helen’s form and retreated to the small connecting bathroom to clean up and straighten her clothing. __

_I definitely need to shower and change…_ she thought, distracted as the smoothed down her short, highlighted hair. She dampened a washcloth with warm water and returned to the bedroom. Helen lay limply on the bed, her pants and underwear still bunched around her knees and Janet’s heart broke to see her so vulnerable. She was pliant and cooperative as Janet cleaned gently between her legs, “I’ll be back for dinner…”

 

“Will you sleep with me tonight?” Helen clutched at her, her voice pleading.

 

“Of course I will.” Janet replied in a mock scolding voice and placed an ardent kiss on her mouth.

 

~

 

 _“I must say I’m rather disappointed Declan didn’t ask me to participate in this investigation…”_

 

Aeryn’s voice sounded tinny and distant on Janet’s cel phone and a grim smile touched her lips as she walked briskly down the hallway, “Given your connection to the heads of _this_ house I can say you’d probably have been the very last person he would have selected.” She clearly heard Aeryn snort in derision,

 

 _“True enough. Tell me what we can do from here.”_

 

Janet shrugged as she walked, “Other than keeping your ear to the ground I can’t think of anything.”

 

 _“Roger that,”_ Aeryn replied, _“I’ll call immediately if we hear anything, but remember we can be there in a matter of hours, so call us if the need arises.”_

 

Janet’s smile was sincere, “I will, thanks Aeryn, gotta’ go.” They said their goodbyes and Janet disconnected the call just as she stepped into Henry’s office.

 

He was typing furiously at his keyboard, Will and Kate stood looking over his shoulder, “It's a surveillance camera,” he said as he worked, “or it _was_ a surveillance camera.” he corrected himself.

 

Will turned to her, “We may have found something,” he pointed to the monitor, “there was a camera pointed directly at our crime scene.”

“Was?”

 

“It’s gone now, but I got pictures of the mount it was torn from,” Will gestured with his chin, “Henry’s tracking it down.”

 

“The cops set up hundreds of 'em all over the city...” Henry muttered more to himself than anyone else, “No scheduled maintenance...” He peered at the long string of digital commands, “There's no reason it should be gone.”

Janet folded her arms across her chest, “So it could have caught the whole thing.”

“Yeah, well,” Henry shrugged as he worked, “the footage gets uploaded to the main server. I might be able to hack in and retrieve it.”

“Nice,” Will sighed audibly, “that's the best news we've had all day.”

“I'll put the word out to some of my contacts.” Kate finally spoke, “maybe somebody knows something. “

“Oh, hey,” Henry turned in his seat to Janet, “I used the codes you gave me to access the doc's computer….”

“Anything?” Janet asked.

“I'm just getting started,” he turned back to his keyboard and quickly opened some files, “but I did find these…”

Janet’s brow furrowed in bemusement, “Brain scans?”

  
“Yeah,” Henry nodded, leaning back in his chair when Janet leaned in for a closer view, “buried deep in her filing system and going back six years; Doc's been scanning herself regularly. The most recent one is from two weeks ago.”

Will crowded in from the other side and peered at the images on the screen, “Huh...”

Hovering over Henry’s shoulder, Kate joined in, squinting at the images, “What is it?”

A beep sounded and one of Henry’s monitors popped on with an image of the sanctuary’s front door and the man standing outside, “Declan’s here...” he remarked unhappily.

  
Janet gave his shoulder a squeeze, “Okay,” she said calmly, “find that video.”

 

~

 

Declan MacRae, the Head of House in the London sanctuary stood behind Helen and Janet’s desk and stared at the screen, without looking up he asked, “How did you get these?” Janet and Will remained silent and he finally straightened and addressed Janet directly, “These scans show a pattern of deterioration lasting years.”

 

“Precisely.” Janet’s voice was curt.

 

“Meaning?” MacRae knew his history for insubordination as the London Head of House would win him no favors here and his tone was challenging.

 

“ _Of course_ their fakes,” she insisted, “planted as part of the attack on Helen.” She made an effort to uncross her arms and pointed to the images on the screen, “There’s no way she could have endured this kind of deterioration over the years without it being glaringly apparent to me or anyone else here.”

  
“Well,” Declan looked down his nose at her, “the big guy noticed.” He wagged his brows expressively at Will, making the younger man squirm slightly in his seat, “In fact, coming clean about it is probably what got him killed.”

 _“Oh for god sakes, Delcan,”_ Janet held up her hand, cutting him off, “Just stop it! Helen didn't do this! She's been set up… somebody obviously planted these!”

 _“Who?”_ he asked demandingly, “Think about it, Janet. Why'd she bring you back? She was looking for someone to replace her.”

 

“Oh my god…” Janet snorted, “You clearly have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Look,” he crossed his arms over his puffed out chest, “if you can provide me with an alternate theory that works, I'm happy to listen. Until then, I have to proceed based on the evidence.”

“And what does that mean?” Janet asked icily and moved to sit behind the desk, forcing Declan to walk around to the other side.

He glared down at her, “The other Sanctuary heads have charged me with gathering evidence against her.”

  
Will’s eyes opened wide in shock and disbelief, _“What is this?”_ he blurted angrily, “ _a witch hunt?”_

MacRae could hardly be bothered to turn his head and address him directly, “We want to get to the truth,” he insisted, “just like you.”

Will did not know Declan well but his tone was still accusing, “After all she's done for you… _huh MacRae?”_ he muttered.

“That's not all...” Declan added, Janet arched an eyebrow but said nothing, “They've voted to send in a triad.”

Will looked lost, “A _triad?_ ”

  
“Telepaths.” Janet said flatly, _Of course they’re going to use telepaths…_ she shuddered inwardly, telepaths were coming to gain access to Helen’s mind.

  
Declan’s tone sounded snide and slightly triumphant, “They’re a team of investigators uniquely qualified for situations like this.”

  
~

 

Will met the three telepaths at the front door and escorted them to the elevator.

  
“Hello,” he greeted them awkwardly, “I’m sure it’d be a pleasure meet all of you…” he said without conviction, “had it been under more pleasant circumstances.”

 

He kept his hands in his pockets, content to make inane small talk as he showed the two male telepaths who were also a couple their room and stopped in front of the second room for Emma, the third telepath,

“I've been an admirer of Doctor Magnus for years.”

“Oh, really?” Will asked politely, “When did you meet?”

“We never have,” she said as she stepped into the room, “but her work saved me; I've never felt at home anywhere except the Sanctuary network.”

“Yeah,” he nodded, looking down at his feet, “I know exactly what you mean.”

“How's your investigation going so far?”

“Shouldn't you know already?” he asked dryly.

The young woman smiled indulgently, “Actually no, it's not an exact science, Will. The mind is tricky and to read it takes focus, concentration, proximity, you know, and even then, a person's thoughts aren't always out there in the open. That's why there's three of us.”

“Doesn't it get noisy with all the,” he shrugged, “you know... “

“Luckily, we can shield our thoughts from each other…. It helps us to remain objective.”

“Huh...” Will nodded, “Well, just...I just wish I could get Magnus to remember what happened.”

“We'll be questioning her later this afternoon, you and Doctor Fraiser are welcome to sit in.”

Will found her words presumptuous and his head cocked to one side, _Oh so we have you permission do we?_

 

The indulgent smile returned and Emma nodded, “Yes…” she said as she closed the door, “you do.”

 

~

 

Henry could hear Janet’s heels as they clicked down the hallway to his office,

 

“Is this going to upset me?” she asked as she threaded her way through the large array of computers.

“Oh, yeah,” he nodded, still staring at the screen, “it's bad news. You know that video you wanted me to look at?”

“Yes?”

“It's been deleted from the police database.”

“So someone in the police department is behind this?”

“Well,” Henry sighed heavily, “that's what I thought too, so I did some digging; it turns out the chief deleted it himself.”

  
“The chief?” Janet shook her head in bemusement, “Why? He and Helen are friends.”

“Exactly,” Henry agreed, “so... I hacked into his email account.” An eyebrow raised high on Janet’s forehead, “Don't worry, it's completely untraceable,” he assured her, “but look what I found.” Typing quickly he opened a file and pointed at the screen, “That is an email requesting the file be deleted.”

Janet peered over his shoulder, “It’s from Helen…”

~

  
The small isolation room was crowded; Declan and Will stood behind Helen, seated next to Janet on a loveseat and she tightly clutched her hand as they faced the three telepaths.

  
“Shall we begin?” Emma asked in a soft, confident voice, “I'm going to ask you to open your mind and allow us inside.” She looked at her two telepathic companions and in unison; they bowed their heads briefly, clearing their minds before looking back at Helen.

 

Helen shook visibly and Janet pulled the trembling hand she held onto her lap and clasped it protectively.

 

Emma looked down briefly at her notebook before asking, “Do you know why we're here?”

Helen licked her lips and spoke in a quiet clear voice, “You're the triad, Emma… you're here to interrogate me.”

“We don't want you to think of it that way.” she assured her, “this is an important matter, but you are still innocent until proven otherwise. Now,” she looked down again at her notepad, “two nights ago there was an incident in old city, do you remember it?”

“No.” Helen stated simply.

“One of your oldest friends was killed.”

Helen’s grip tightened on Janet’s hand and she answered, “I don't remember.”

“Do you remember going into the alley and firing your weapon?”

“I can't... I…” Helen stammered, “I don't know what happened.”

“What,” asked the younger male telepath, “is your relationship like with your staff?”

Helen jerked slightly in her seat, “I didn't do this…” she said, her voice rising in fear.

“Please,” the telepath said calmly, “just answer the questions.”

Helen bit her lip and shook her head from side to side, _“Why are you treating me like a common criminal?”_ she asked, her voice rising.

 

“Helen…” Janet tried to soothe her but Helen looked away, her agitation rising.

“This investigation,” Emma said pointedly, “is in accordance with _your_ charter...”

 _“Someone did this to me,”_ Helen blurted, “and you're all just sitting here instead of trying to find them!” she looked around her desperately, “ _You're all in on this, aren't you?”_ she shouted, _“You've done something to me!”_

“Helen…” Janet placed a comforting hand on her cheek but Helen jerked away.

 _“NO!”_ she shouted and bolted from the loveseat and ran to the corner of the room, “NO! LEAVE ME ALONE! ALL OF YOU!” She crossed her arms over her chest, hugging herself fearfully, “GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!”

“Okay,” Will held up his hands, “this is over, we can reconvene later.”

 

Helen cowered fearfully in the corner and Janet approached her carefully, stopping a few feet away until Will cleared the room, _“Shh…_ _Helen…”_ she spoke softly, _“it’s okay now…”_ she assured her, blinking the tears from her brimming eyes and sniffed _, “you’re safe… they’re gone…”_ she held out her hands and Helen ran into them. Her knees buckled and she collapsed in Janet’s arms and they clutched one another as they sank to the floor. _“It’s alright, love…”_ Janet whispered thickly, _“shh….”_

 

~

  
Will jammed his hands in his pockets as he walked to the elevator with Emma, the lead telepath.

 

“Her mind is chaotic,” she shook her head sadly, “damaged. I've seen this type of thing before; symptoms of advanced dementia. It makes it impossible to read her thoughts, even with basic prompts to focus them.”

Will’s eyes widened in alarm, “W-What does that mean?”

“Telepathy is our most reliable means of investigation, but it's not the only one. We'll need to look over the existing physical evidence until we can understand why we can't read her mind.” She stopped and placed a hand on his arm, “Will, I'm... I'm sorry; I know you were hoping for better news.”

~

 

Will strode into Henry’s office and picked his way through the array of servers and monitors, “Hey, you wanted to see me?”

“Yeah,” he swiveled in his chair and handed Will a single printed page, “firewall intercepted an outgoing email.”

Will’s eyes quickly scanned the page and he scowled, _“No way!”_ He stormed from Henry’s lab and ran to Helen and Janet’s office. He burst in the door without knocking, making both Janet and Declan jump. He clutched the email in his hand but it was clear by the look on Janet’s face he wasn’t about to tell her anything she didn’t already know,

 _“What the hell are you trying to pull?”_ he demanded, facing off with MacRae.

“Sorry?” Declan asked in an innocent voice, but the smirk on his face was unmistakable.

“You sent an email to the heads of household requesting to be put in charge of this sanctuary.”

Declan arched, “You read my email?”

“He’s trying to discredit Helen before the triad renders judgment because he wants her job.” Janet’s expression was dark and unreadable and Declan turned to her,

 

 _“You're out of line…”_ he sneered.

  
 _“She’s out of line?”_ Will blurted angrily, “She’s the head of this house as much as Helen Magnus! You're making an end run around the both of them, _but she’s the one who's out of line?”_

 

Janet released the breath she’d been holding in a rush, “Will…”

Declan hooked his thumb over his shoulder at Janet, “Do you realize what'll happen to them if Magnus is found guilty?” He took a menacing step toward the younger man, “There's a list of candidates a mile long to take her place and let me tell you, none of them will be as pleasant to work for as me; for starters, they'll fire the whole staff, both of you included…” Will stared at him, his mouth agape, “and a year from now, _if_ Magnus’ memory clears up and she's found not guilty, I'll be more than happy to step down,” he waved his hand in a kingly gesture, “let them both take command again.” He sauntered over to a chair and sat, “That's more than I can say for anyone else….” His tone was condescendingly saccharine as he addressed Will, “You have _no_ idea of the political landscape you're dealing with.”

Will glared at him, “I want a copy of all the evidence you've collected so far…” he demanded through clenched teeth.

“Oh,” Declan casually crossed his legs and sat back, “you think I'm fabricating this, do you?”

“Yeah,” Will nodded, defiant and challenging, “I do.”

The phone on Janet’s desk rang and she sighed heavily, “Hello?”

“Hey,” Henry’s voice sounded curiously flat, “it's me, I got the video from the alley… it's downloading now.”

“Good,” Janet rose from her chair, “we'll be right there.”

~

  
Janet, Will and Declan stood looking over Henry’s shoulder where he sat at his workstation, “Turns out the police maintain a backup database. It's only updated every three days, so there's some lag time between the main system and...”

“Yeah, yeah, we get it,” Will said impatiently, “so what did you find?”

The four looked at the monitor showing a black and white image of an empty alley.

 

Janet pinched the bridge above her nose with her thumb and forefinger in a vain attempt to suppress the headache forming between her eyes, “Can you fast forward it Henry?”

Henry tapped some keys on the keyboard and Bigfoot’s large frame entered the alleyway.

“It looks like he's waiting for someone.” Declan noted unnecessarily.

“Oh…” Will pointed, “there.” A cloaked, hooded figure appeared in the alley at the bottom of the screen, back to the camera. _“Dammit,”_ he muttered, “who is that?”

The hooded figure pointed a gun at Bigfoot and fired. Janet gasped, her eyes flinching away at the sight of her friend being killed then watched as the shooter knelt briefly at his side then stood again, still not facing the camera.

 _“Aw,”_ Will begged the recorded image, _“come on… turn around!”_

 __

The hooded figure turned and walked away, towards the camera, head bent, and just before disappearing off the bottom of the monitor, the head raised and Helen looked up into the camera lens and Henry froze the playback on her upturned face.

  
~

 

Janet sat lifelessly at her desk; Will sat across from her slumped in a chair when the telepath, Scofield, knocked lightly on the open door.

  
“Come in…” Janet responded, not looking.

  
Will gestured to the chair next to him, “Have a seat.”

“It's not necessary.” Scofield was taller than Will but approximately the same age and he stood almost at attention as he addressed them, “I just wanted to inform you; my colleagues and I have gone through the evidence and discussed the issue at length”.

Will looked at the telepath with utter distaste, “Let me guess…”

“Doctor Magnus has a mental deficiency…” he addressed himself to Janet, who stared at him darkly but said nothing, “she needs treatment, she's a hazard to herself and others….”

Janet clenched her jaw, making the muscles twitch and Will interjected, _“She's being set up…”_

“How can you still believe that?” the telepath turned to him, sounding incredulous, “You've seen the video.”

 _“I don't care about the video.”_ Janet finally spoke and leaned forward in her chair, “I don't care what anyone says,” she said in a quiet clear voice, “telepathic or otherwise.”  
   
“I see you may not agree with our methods, Doctor Fraiser,” he stated rather haughtily, “but I can assure you they're effective, and there's a good reason Doctor Magnus assigned this task to our kind.”

“So what happens now?” Will asked.

“In the interim, Declan MacRae will be assuming responsibilities of this Sanctuary.”

 

Will exploded, “WHAT?”

 

“I know that you believe he's somehow connected to Magnus' crime, but I can assure you that's not true. I have questioned him fully and read his mind.”

 

“Oh, _well_ ,” Will’s voice dripped with sarcasm, “as long as you’ve read his mind….” He seethed, “A lot of good that did Magnus.”

“You know,” the telepath folded his hands in front of him, “I'm sorry that you're disappointed, Doctor Zimmerman, but really, it's for the best… Doctor Magnus will be transported to the London sanctuary first thing in the morning. I suggest you take the opportunity to say goodbye before then.”

 

He turned on his heel and left and Janet propped her elbows on her desk and dropped her head in her hands.

~

  
 _“You can't let them do this to me!”_ Helen cried, clearly agitated as she paced the small room, “ _Where’s Janet?”_

 

Will again held out his hands in a calming gesture, “She’s calling the other heads of house trying to gain support to stay in charge so she can keep you here… _Magnus…_ ” he was alarmed at how agitated she was and fought to keep her attention as he spoke, “Henry is pulling out all the stops… Kate is talking to...”

“NO!” Helen cut him off, “You don't understand; _they're all out to get me!”_

“Who?”

 

“Declan… and that other one,” she waved her hand in frustration, “what's his name… Scofield? _They're working together.”_

 

Will drew a deep breath, _Oh boy,_ he thought, _here we go,_ “How do you know?”

“Isn't it obvious?” she cried, her voice rising, _“Will, they're trying to kill me! Look...”_ She picked up her dinner tray and thrust it at him, forcing him to take the tray of rattling dishware from her. _“Look at this….”_ She stabbed an accusing finger at the food, “ _It's poisoned._ Smell it...” Will stared down at the tray then raised his eyes to hers, wary, “SMELL IT!” she cried and turned away. “They're going to destroy _everything_ …” she muttered in a low desperate voice, “Ashley told me….” she paced the room, nodding to herself.

“Magnus,” Will sighed and set the tray on the table, “this has nothing to do with Ashley.”

“They killed her too!” Helen jabbed her finger at him, backing into the corner, _“They killed my daughter!”_

“Okay,” Will held his ground and his hands patted the air in a calming gesture, “listen to me; you're exhausted… you need to rest.”

 _“Don't patronize me!”_ she snapped, suddenly cross. “You said you were going to _help_ me...” she added, her mood changing once again as she sagged visibly, looking defeated.

He tried to reassure her, “I’m trying to help you...”

 _“Oh, no…”_ she moaned, backing away, her face a mask of anguish.

“What?”

 _“Oh, no...”_ she whispered, her voice breaking, _“they got to you too.”  
_  
 _“No,”_ Will shook his head firmly, “look, I swear, I am fighting for you…” he held out his hands to her, “we all are.”

 _“You're lying!”_ she exploded, _“Why is everyone lying to me?”_ she cried and retreated again to the corner of the room and covered her face with her hands, crying softly.

Will watched her for long minutes until he finally ventured softly, “Magnus?”

 

But Helen only slid down the wall, still weeping quietly. Feeling dejected, he turned slowly back to the door and keyed in the security code to release the magnetic lock when Helen suddenly elbowed him from behind and slammed his head into the wall, stunning him.

 

~

  
Henry sat in the center of his computer array, slumped in his chair and fiddled listlessly with a rubber band when the handheld radio on his desk suddenly crackled to life,

  
 _“Henry!”_ MacRae shouted, _“I need an immediate perimeter lockdown!”_

Henry’s eyes flicked to one his multi-view security monitors showing Helen Magnus bolting through a perimeter door and he picked up the radio and keyed the mic, “Uh, yeah… you're too late.” he said dryly. “She's already gone…” he added then placed the radio back on his desk, the faint hint of a smile touching his lips, “You go, doc.” he muttered softly.

~

 

Janet watched as Declan organized the men he brought with him on one of Henry’s security monitors. She stood with her arms folds tensely, willing her heart to slow down and not beat its way out of her chest. _Slow down and breathe…_

 

“Where are you on Helen’s files?” she asked.

“Still scratching the surface…” Henry typed furiously on his keyboard, his eyes scanning files and snapping back to Declan’s figure on the other monitor, “Why?”

Janet shrugged in frustration, “There's something in there that Declan wants.” She stared at MacRae’s image, “He knew _exactly_ what he had to do to discredit her, and now that we’re both out of the picture he can take his time….”

“Yeah,” Henry agreed, “but wouldn't the telepaths know what he was up to?”

“Not if he’s working with at least one of them.” Henry’s brows arched high on his forehead and Janet drew a deep breath, uncrossing her arms and planted her hands on her hips, “One of them could be blocking the other two from reading his mind.”

“Telepathic criminal…” he exhaled unhappily, “great.”

Janet’s cel phone rang and she pulled it from the holder on her waistband and checked the display before answering, “Kate…”

  
 _“Hey doc,”_ the muffled voice greeted her; _“can you meet me at the pier in twenty?”_

~

 

Kate flashed her headlights just once to Janet, indicating she should follow. They drove along the access road that connected the docks and back onto a main road into town. _For chrissakes, Kate,_ Janet tapped the steering wheel impatiently, _where are you taking me?_ They drove for another ten minutes when Kate suddenly pulled off onto a dark road and shut off her headlights. Janet followed suit and drove behind her on the moonlit road, _Where in the hell are we going?_ She licked her lips and tried to loosen her grip on the wheel.

 

Kate finally parked and waved her hand, _“Over here…”_ she said in a muted voice. She led her into a large building and down a stairwell, “Sorry,” she apologized as they descended, “I had to get you out of the range of the telepaths before I brought you here.”

 _“What is this place?”_ Janet asked in a hushed whisper.

“Storage facility,” using her flashlight, Kate searched for a light switch, “This was part of the university before they shut it down.” She flicked on all the switches but only a few filthy bulbs flared into life. “My guy _swears_ he spotted her coming in…”

Janet hurried around low stacks of wooden pallets and walls stripped of their drywall, “Helen?” she called softly, squinting in the murky light.

  
“Doc?” Kate followed, “Are you down here?”

“Helen?” Janet peered into the dark corners, “It’s me… and Kate.”

Helen suddenly emerged from the shadows and swung a length of board at Kate’s head, shouting as she attacked.

“WHOA!” Kate cried, easily blocking her and backed away as Janet rushed forward, “Hold on a second, doc!”

“LEAVE ME ALONE!” Helen shouted, sounding terrified, the board held high, “STAY BACK!”

“Helen,” Janet said in a calm voice, “it’s me, love…” She approached slowly, her hands outstretched.

 

“Janet?” Helen dropped the board but backed away from her.

 

“You know I’m here to help you,” Janet soothed as she advanced, “easy now…”

 

“Janet,” Helen sobbed, retreating into the shadows, _“please, what's happening to me?”_

“It’s alright…” Janet soothed, “just let me help you…” she continued murmuring soft words of comfort as she approached until she was close enough to reach out a hand and gently clasp the one Helen held over her mouth. _“It’s alright baby…”_ she whispered and Helen slid down the wall, clutching at the elegant fingers and pressed them against her trembling lips.

 

Kate decided backing off for a few minutes might help Magnus calm down so she retreated to the stairs and sat on one of the steps, sighing heavily. Helen clutched at Janet and buried her face in her chest. She sat leaning against the wall and held her, murmuring soft words until she felt Helen gulp and sniff.

 

“There now…” she murmured softly, “better?”

 

Helen nodded and pulled Janet’s hand from her cheek down between her legs; “ _please…”_ she rasped in a low desperate voice, _“please….”_

 

Janet peered nervously around the stack of pallets; hoping Kate was far enough away not to hear anything and pressed her lips into Helen’s dark locks, _“Alright…”_ she whispered, barely audible, _“you must be quiet now…”_ She hurriedly unbuttoned and unzipped the black jeans Helen wore and jammed he hand inside, her fingers rushing to slide beneath the thin fabric of Helen’s panties. She stroked and squeezed the neatly trimmed mound and teased the swollen, flooded crease with the tip of her finger.

 

 _“Please…”_ Helen cried softly, _“please…”_

 

Janet had hoped some ardent fondling would be sufficient to make Helen climax, concerned about the cleanliness of her fingers, but Helen only whimpered and bucked wantonly on her hand. She desperately tried to remember when she last washed her hands as she slid the tips of two fingers between the sodden folds and stroked the rigid labia while her thumb firmly rubbed the wide erect clitoris.

 

Helen relaxed in her arms, if marginally, and the needful bucking of her hips smoothed into rhythmic undulations as Janet slid the two fingers inside and pumped them forcefully, her thumb rubbing the stiff protrusion of Helen’s clit until she felt her shudder in orgasm. Janet quickly placed her mouth hotly over Helen’s and sucked her tongue firmly inside to keep her climax as quiet as possible.  Helen only shuddered and whimpered softly, her hips jerking as she ejaculated into Janet’s palm. Janet stilled the fingers within and briefly fellated the tongue in her mouth before releasing it.

 

Helen began to cry again, _“Janet…”_ she half moaned half whispered, _“Janet…”_

 

 _“Easy baby…”_ Janet buried her nose in the dark tresses and whispered, _“I love you so much… just breathe….”_ She pulled her fingers free as she spoke, and quickly licked her palm and sucked her fingers clean, hoping to keep the sexual scent from filling the air around them. She re-buttoned and zipped Helen’s jeans and caressed the tear-stained face, “Rest for a few minutes…” she murmured and stood, smoothing down her coat as she ducked around the stacked pallets.

  
Kate looked up from fidgeting with her phone, “We can't take her back there…” she said quietly.

Janet was about to object when her cel phone rang and she struggled to free it from her coat pocket, “Henry, what's going on?”

 _“Hey doc, I kind of hit the mother lode here, where are you?”_

“I'll be right there...” Janet nodded and Kate grabbed her arm, “What?” she turned to her, still on the phone.

“You can't go back there...” Kate looked worried, “the amazing Kreskin will read your mind and find out where Magnus is.”

 _“What's going on?”_ Janet could hear Henry’s voice, _“H- hello?”  
_  
“Henry,” Janet turned to look at Helen’s shadowy, huddled form as she spoke, “can you meet me at Dead Bridge?”

 _“Yeah, why?”_

 

“I can't tell you…”

 _“Okay,”_ His crackly voice sounded uncertain, _“I have no idea what that means.”_

“Good, in ten minutes.”

~

 

Janet shut the engine and ran from the car to Henry’s van and quickly hopped in the passenger side, “What is it?”

 

“I was going through her backup drive when I stumbled across a ghost directory labeled _Big Bertha_.” He handed over his remote tablet, “I tried to open it, and I found this…”

Janet stared at the darkly illuminated screen, “What is this?”

“Some sort of encryption cipher; CSIS-level coding, so whatever's in there's got to be important.”

  
Janet’s brow furrowed, “And you think this is what Declan's after?”

He nodded, “I'd say it's a fair bet.”

“All right,” she handed the tablet back to him, “stay on it, let me know what you find out.”

~

 

She hurried back to the abandoned warehouse and found Kate sitting on the stairs and Helen pacing tensely in a dark corner, “I’m back…”

 

Kate turned to her, “How did it go?”

“Good….” she nodded, giving the young woman’s shoulder a squeeze as she passed and slowly crossed the room to Helen, “Henry thinks he's found something, so...”

 

All three women jumped as the door upstairs shattered and MacRae and his men clattered down the stairs, automatic weapons held at the ready.

 _“Magnus!”_ Declan cried as he followed his men. Kate pulled her weapon but MacRae pointed his finger at her authoritatively, _“Put it down, Miss Freelander… right now!”_

Helen tore her hand from Janet’s, outraged, _“You brought them here?”_

“Actually,” Delcan beamed at her, “she did.”

 _“What the hell is this?”_ Kate demanded.

MacRae ignored her, “Doctor Magnus, you are hereby remanded into custody…. you'll come quietly please.” he motioned over his shoulder to his men.

 

 _“Declan,”_ Janet placed herself between Helen and the approaching team, “for god’s sake, Declan, _please!”_

Terrified, Helen grasped Janet’s hand again but the two men forced their way between them and pulled her away,

  
 _“NO!”_ Helen cried, frantic, _“NO! JANET! NO! NO! NO!”_

 

The men grabbed her arms but she tore away and turned, running straight into a boarded enclosure. Janet and the men followed but they shoved her away and regaining tight grips on Helen’s upper arms began dragging her to the stairs.

 _“NO!”_ Helen shouted, _“GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME! LET GO OF ME!”_ A loud sob broke from her as she writhed and twisted in their grasp, _“JANET!”_ she screamed, _“JANET! JANET!”_

Janet fought her way into Declan’s men, desperate to get to Helen, _“For the love of god DECLAN!”_ she turned shouting at him, _“Let me go with her!”_

 __

 _“LET GO OF ME!”_ Helen continued to shout and struggle.

MacRae shook his head in condescending mock-sympathy, “She's becoming more dangerous, it's time to take _extreme_ measures.” He nodded to his men, “Confine her in the SHU; maximum security.” He turned to give Kate a withering look as he passed and started up the stairs, “You may go there with her, Doctor Fraiser…” he said, sounding bored and indifferent, “if you like.”

~

  
Kate stood in the sanctuary library next to Will, defiant as she faced MacRae and the three telepaths,

  
“You made a very big mistake, Miss,” Declan shook his finger at her; “we're not the enemy. What do you know about Big Bertha?”

Kate only arched her eyebrows at him and Scofield spoke, “Your silence won't help you Miss Freelander, you can't control your thoughts.”

“Stop it,” Emma scolded him, “you know as well as I do she knows nothing. Will,” she turned to him, “I can assure you there is no conspiracy here.”

“How do you know?” he folded his arms across his chest, “You said yourself you can't read each other's thoughts…”

“We can read yours,” the third telepath smoothly interjected, “harboring a fugitive is a serious crime under the Sanctuary Charter, Doctor.”

“So you want to lock us all up?” Will snorted derisively, “Go ahead.” He turned on his heel and stormed out, Emma close behind.

“Will,” she followed him into the hallway, “wait….” She lightly clasped his arm to stop him, “Look, I want to apologize for the way Scofield treated you, you didn't deserve that. The information on Big Bertha has everybody rattled.”

  
Will scowled down at her, “What the hell is Big Bertha anyway?” She looked down at the floor, uncertain and he snorted in contempt. _“Oh...”_ he nodded, his voice dripping with disdain, “I get it, you get to know all _my_ inner thoughts, but when it comes to telling me why _I'm_ being treated like a criminal, then _everything's_ off limits, _huh?”_ he flung his arms wide in exasperation and turned to walk away.

 _“Look,”_ Emma looked exasperated as well, “all right...but what I'm about to tell you is heavily classified; only a handful of people in the world know it.”

Will turned back expectantly, “Fine.”

She sighed, “As you know, we house many species of deadly abnormals within the network. Normally, this isn't a problem, provided certain precautions are taken. However, there are certain abnormals that are so dangerous; we simply can't risk keeping them around.”

Will shrugged, “How dangerous?”

“Earthquakes, mass flooding, fires, atmospheric toxins and believe me, the list of what these abnormals are capable of goes on. Big Bertha was one such abnormal, she could alter the magnetic resonance in her body to manipulate tectonic plates. The destruction she caused was unimaginable, Doctor Magnus tracked, captured and euthanized her three years ago, according to protocol… or so everybody thought, and now these files indicate that Big Bertha may actually still be alive. I'm sure you can understand how unsafe that is; whoever controls her has the power to ransom governments, level entire cities...”

“Let me explain something to you,” Will interrupted, “I know Magnus. I work with her every day. There's no way that she would _ever_ unleash something like this.”

Emma pursed her lips, “There was a time when I would have believed you without question, Will, but now I'm not so sure.”

 

~

Will, Declan and the telepaths crowded around Henry’s main workstation and Declan’s nostrils flared impatiently,

 

“I thought you said you had it.”

 _“Yeah, I did,”_ Henry snapped, “I just... it's a lot different with you guys standing over me like this.” He continued typing at a furious pace and pointed at the screen, “There… there's your Big Bertha file.”

“Oh, my God,” Emma breathed, sounding genuinely shocked, _“she's alive…”_

Declan pursed his lips, “Not only that, Magnus is moving her.”

Will squinted at the screen, perplexed, “Where?”

  
“It just says she's in a container on the Arabian Sea.” Declan’s eyes quickly scanned the information, “Look at the latest AIS data...”

“What is she thinking?” Scofield’s partner asked, making Will smirk at the irony.

“We need to mobilize the nearest Sanctuary retrieval team immediately,” Scofield turned to MacRae, “if Big Bertha falls into the wrong hands, it'll be disastrous.” He then turned to Will, “Still think she's innocent?”

~

Will entered the sanctuary’s security-intensive SHU, or Special Housing Unit, and made his way to Helen’s room and looked through the observation window. Janet sat on a chair next to Helen’s hospital bed, her cheek resting on Helen’s hand. Will’s heart broke to see them and he tapped on the glass, Janet looked at him with red-rimmed eyes and nodded for him to come in.

 

He walked over to stand on the opposite side of the bed, his hands shoved deep in his pockets, “So, how is she?” he asked, looking down at the red and angry-looking scrape on Helen’s forehead that shone in stark contrast against her pale features.

 

Janet kept hold of the limp hand and leaned back in her chair, “She’s unconscious, Declan found it necessary to sedate her before…” her voice trailed away as the images of Helen screaming and struggling in the dark van while MacRae’s men fought to inject her flooded her mind’s eye. Her hand slid up Helen’s arm, indicating the outline of a gauze bandage wrapped around her forearm. _“They hurt her…”_ she said in a tight whisper, _“she was terrified and they tore up her arm trying to inject her.”_ She sniffed and clamped her trembling lips together in a hard line.

Will sighed heavily, staring down at the heavy leather restraints around Helen’s wrists, “And I see Declan still found it necessary to restrain her.” Janet nodded and he sighed again, “Well, I’m packed and ready to go.” Janet stared at him uncomprehendingly and he shrugged, “I’m coming with you… there’s nothing I can do here to help, maybe I can help you help her…”

Helen suddenly began to convulse on the narrow hospital bed and Janet flew into action,

 

 _“Shit!”_ she ran to the crash cart and yanked open a drawer, “Turn her on her side!” she said curtly, her eyes and fingers searching frantically through the vials for an anti-seizure medication.

 

Will was already at work, furiously removing the restraint on the wrist nearest to him and quickly rolled Helen onto her side as the seizure violently jerked her body.

  
~

 

Once Janet was able to stop Helen’s seizure her jaw set in a firm line and she insisted on moving her to the sanctuary’s infirmary. Once there she removed Helen’s clothes and dressed her in a hospital gown, carefully repositioning the leads from the EKG monitor when she pulled the sheet and blanket over her.

 

When she finished settling her in the hospital bed she walked to door and motioned for Will, Kate and Henry to come in. They filed in silently and stood side by side at the foot of her bed. Will grasped Henry’s shoulder and gave the tight sinewy muscles a squeeze; _Losing Ashley was like losing a sister…_ he mused unhappily, _and now he’s lost his parents…_

  
“I put her in a drug-induced coma to stop the seizures,” Janet stood behind them, “but I'm afraid her condition is deteriorating….” she added in a quiet voice.

“There's more bad news.” Will turned to her, “We just got word from the retrieval team; the ship we were tracking was attacked by mercenaries. By the time they boarded it, the cargo had been stolen… Big Bertha's gone.” He fell silent along with the rest of the group for a long moment and shook his head, “None of this makes any sense...”

 

Henry nodded, “I know…” he sniffed, “can we bury the big guy before you go?”

 

“Of course.” Janet stepped forward and gave Henry’s taut, trembling form a hug.

 

Will’s brow furrowed and he turned to him, “Where is he?”

“He’s still,” Henry shrugged, miserable, “you know, down in the…”

 

“But have any of us actually seen him in there?”

 

“In where?” Kate asked him, perplexed, _“In his box?”_ she added in a low voice.

“Well,” Will nodded, shrugging, “yeah, have any of you actually seen his body since he was down in the morgue?” Everyone, including Janet shook their heads and the furrow in his brow deepened, “Where's the triad?”

“They left hours ago.” Henry answered.

Will’s eyes widened in shock and he suddenly spoke in a rush, “Okay,” he turned to Janet, “Can you run a scan on Magnus' brain right now?” Janet nodded uncertainly and he rushed to the door, “ _Right now…_ I’ve got to go check on something and I’ll be right back.”

 

He ran to the sanctuary crypt and came to a skidding halt in front of Bigfoot’s large casket. The lid of the stone sarcophagus sat slightly ajar and the flowers that Henry had placed on top now lay in a heap on the floor.

 

Will’s mouth dropped open in shock and sudden understanding and he rushed to push the lid open further and looked down inside. The coffin was empty.

 

 _“I knew it!”_ he shouted, banging his fists on the lid, _“I knew it; big guy's not dead!”_

~

  
Janet stood with Will and Henry and Kate in the observation area outside Helen’s room and all four stared at the multiple images on the screen,

  
“This can't be right….” Henry sounded incredulous, “Where's the deterioration?”

“It never existed,” Will said, sounding triumphant, “those other brain scans weren't real.”

 

“Well I’ll be damned…” Janet muttered, feeling relieved and confused all at the same time.

Kate shook her head, “Then why did she flake out?”

“I don't know,” Will shrugged, “but I'm guessing she did it on purpose to conceal her thoughts from the triad.” Kate just stared at him and he continued, “Okay, so… you're Magnus, and you want to create these symptoms what do you do?”

Henry tore his eyes from the screen, “I don't follow you.”

Will turned to Janet, “Is there a type of abnormal that would cause her to act this way?”

 

Her eyes slammed closed, _“Oh my god…”_ she moaned, “the Ozone Beetle.”

“What…” Henry’s eyes opened wide, _“are you kidding?”_

“Oh yeah,” Kate nodded, pointing at the screen, “right there on the scan, the dark spot.”

It was Will’s turn to look confused, “What's an ozone beetle?”

“It's a bug that crawls into your brain and nestles in your hippocampus,” Janet shivered at the possibility, “but they're...”

“Red-listed...” Kate finished, “One of my contacts tracked down this dealer who said Magnus bought a whack of red-list freaks last week.”

“Red-list?” Janet turned to her, “Are you sure?”

“Oh, yeah,” Kate nodded, “according to him she was all over the weird, creepy stuff. Said it was stuff nobody else wanted.”

“What exactly did she buy?” Janet asked, feeling her heart thud dully in her chest.

“He wasn’t able to find out; he said the guy didn't want to rat out _a client.”_ Frustration threaded Kate’s voice, “But whatever it was he said she paid a lot for it… _way_ over market.”

“That doesn't make any sense…” Henry’s brow furrowed, “what would the doc want with a bunch of Red-Listers?”

Will held up a hand to stop them, “So what does this beetle do?”

“It secretes this fluid that gives you this wicked high, but if you leave it in there too long...” Kate shrugged.

Dread swept over Janet like a dark, cold ocean wave, “It causes memory loss, paranoia, increased sensitivity to light...”

Kate folded her arms across her chest, “Which is why she hid in that basement...”

“Okay,” Will nodded, “we've got to get it out of her.”

“I’ll get her ready…” Janet headed for Helens’ room.

  
Henry nodded vigorously and hurried off, “I'll go set up an OR...”

Kate shook her head, still confused, “Why would she do this?”

 Will watched their retreating forms, “Do you still have that email that she sent you last week?”

“Yeah,” Kate moved to take Henry’s place at the computer and quickly logged in, “I think so… there...” she pointed at the screen and Will read over her shoulder,

 _“Right there;”_ he pointed at the text, “she spelled _retrieve_ wrong.”

“So?”

 

“Oh no,” he assured her, “Magnus is a _spelling Nazi,_ she'd never do that.”

Kate snorted in disbelief, “Five minutes ago I would have thought she'd never put a bug in her head, either.”

Will right-clicked on the spelling error and a tracking map suddenly filled the screen.

Kate’s jaw dropped open in awe, “ _Whoa…_ what _the hell_ is that?”

“Africa.” Will muttered, “I think we just found Big Bertha...”

~

 

“Helen?”

 

Nausea beckoned to Helen from dark recesses and she resisted opening her eyes.

 

“I dimmed the lights, my love… open your eyes, _please,_ baby.”

 

Janet’s voice sounded tremulous and Helen forced the lids open, if a crack, _“Janet?”_ she asked in a faint, warbled voice.

 

“I’m right here…” Janet took raised the hand she held to her lips and kissed the palm, “can you stay with me a little longer this time?”

 

 _“Try…”_ Helen’s speech sounded slurred and she licked her dry lips.

 

“Here,” Janet rose to fetch the glass of mostly melted ice chips, “have another one of these…” she placed the melting ice fragment on Helen’s tongue and a smile pulled weakly at her lips,

 

 _“Thank you…”_ she croaked, making Janet grin tiredly at her. _“Bertha?”_ she asked hoarsely.

 

Janet felt the presence in the doorway and waved Henry in, “Declan was here… he accompanied Will and Kate to Djibouti where they followed the tracking device you planted in the empty cargo container.”

 

“Yeah…” Henry’s smile was brilliant but he spoke softly, “It was Emma, they caught her and some friends trying to move the container to another ship.” He paused a moment before asking, “Big Bertha's dead?”

 _“Yes…”_ Helen answered in a gravelly voice, looking more aware of her surroundings and she tightened her grip on Janet’s hand, _“I'd noticed a series of… leaks that couldn't be traced back to the… the Cabal.”_

 

“How long?” Janet asked.

 

 _“Years...”_ Helen emitted a noise sounding like a snort of derision.

“So you came up with this _insane_ plan to dangle Big Bertha in front of her.” Janet’s voice was incredulous as she considered the frightening implications of how Helen’s plan could have gone horribly, fatally wrong.

 

“And drop an ozone beetle to take yourself out of the picture.” Henry continued, “Kill the big guy… which I'm still not entirely sure about, by the way...”

  
“And not tell me…” Janet shook her head in disapproval.

 

“Or any of us,” Henry muttered, “so we couldn't blow your cover.” He scrubbed his grizzled face with both hands, “He’s back now… he said the bullets didn’t penetrate his thick hide…”

 

“Oh my god...” Janet’s eyes slammed closed self-deprecatingly, “Of course they didn’t, his skin _is_ four times thicker than that of humans.” She shook her head in consternation, “But we saw him, Helen, he appeared dead, how did you manage that?”

  
 _“I tipped the bullets with the secretion of a Chilean Shepherd Frog.”_ Helen managed in a whisper, closing her eyes against the slowly spinning room, _“It slowed his heart enough to feign death.”_

“My god… _Helen_ …” Janet’s voice took on a an unmistakable, angry quality and Helen weakly squeezed her hand,

 

“I knew you'd figure it out…” she insisted quietly, “I also left careful instructions for our friend to return… if things went badly.”

 _“Huhn…”_ Henry harrumphed, digesting all the new information. After a moment, he looked at her with suddenly brimming eyes and nodded awkwardly, “Okay, well…” his chin quivered uncontrollably and he stuffed his hands deep in his pockets and loudly cleared his throat, “I’m really glad to have the both of you back.”

 

 _“Glad to be back…”_ she answered him softly, _“I’m sorry, Henry…”_

 

“It’s okay…” he sniffed, “Biggie and I’ll come by later to visit.”

 

He left and Janet smoothed a soft hand over Helen’s pale cheek, “If you can stay awake I’d like it if you could manage some juice and maybe some soup tonight.”

 

 _“Am I back?”_ Helen asked, weakly pulling Janet’s hand across her chest.

 

“So far you pass all the neuromotor function tests…” her voice trailed away, “so yes, in spite of the _insane_ risk you took….”

 

 _“I had to...”_ Helen protested.

 

“You did _not_ have to keep it a secret from _me_.” Janet whispered rather sharply and clamped her lips together, silently berating herself for scolding Helen as she lay so weakly in the hospital bed.

 

 _“I’m sorry…”_ Helen rasped, _“I am, Janet…. but I’d been investigating her during the years… when we were apart…”_ Helen’s eyes brimmed and she trembled with effort to speak, _“I thought it was best, Janet… I swear… I’m sorry….”_ A quiet sob broke from her, _“I’m so sorry….”_

 

Janet dropped the rail on the bed and quickly sat on the thin mattress so she could take Helen in her arms, _“Shh… now…”_ she held her gently, taking care not to move her or touch the bandage on the back of her neck. “Easy now, my love... I just spent two hours removing that parasite from the base of your skull and slowly pulling the tendril from your hippocampus…” She sniffed, unaware she was crying until she placed a trembling kiss on Helens’ lips, “Don’t you dare undo all my work…”

 

A weak smile tugged at Helen’s lips in spite of the tears that slid from the corners of her eyes, _“I promise….”_ she whispered.

 

Janet raised up on an elbow and tilted her head to one side, “You know,” she smiled softly, “when this started I told you I could get through this as long as you trusted me…” Her voice wavered and her chin trembled slightly, “And you did, in spite of what that beetle did to you… you never forgot how much I love you.”

 

 _“You are my heart…”_ Helen’s eyes drifted closed, _“that part of me will always know.”_


End file.
